The Philadelphia Flyers (16-9-6) head north and cross the border to take on the Montréal Canadiens (17-11-4) Tuesday night at Bell Centre. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:00pm ET.
Yes, that’s right, no more Carolina Hurricanes for the Flyers until April 13, which is a blessing considering Philadelphia is 3-9-8 in their last 20 meetings with the Hurricanes.
The Orange and Black enter the matchup in Montréal on a three-game losing streak. Despite their failure to come out on top, the Flyers still managed to skate away with one point in each contest. Vegas knocked off Philadelphia in overtime following Mark Stone’s game-winner, then the weekend home-and-home series with Carolina resulted in a familiar outcome as the once 5-0 Flyers in the shootout went 0-2 during the skills competition against the Hurricanes.
Although the win column remains empty of late, the Flyers find themselves in possession of the top Wild Card spot in the East. It’s truly remarkable considering the Flyers’ season synopsis is battling and clawing their way back into games this season to finish 11-6-4 when allowing the first goal. That’s 26 of Philadelphia’s 38 total points accumulated when trailing behind their opponent. Whatever the public opinions are on this Flyers squad, critics have to commend Philadelphia for persevering on a nightly basis.
“This team never gives up to be honest with you. We’re pretty confident inside the locker room down one or two going into the third,” Jamie Drysdale said. “We know we have a fighting chance. We know we’re a group that fights back.”
Ideally, the Flyers would prefer not to play from behind and open the floodgates similar to their initial performance in November against Montréal. Philadelphia came out firing, netting three goals in the first 7:50 to go on to win 5-4. Maybe this time the Flyers won’t give up four unanswered goals to the Canadiens and maintain their lead, but a win is a win.
Montréal is currently on their second game of a four-game homestand. They smacked around the defeating Western Conference champions in the Edmonton Oilers Sunday night winning that matchup 4-1. Juraj Slafkovský and Lane Hutson recorded multi-point nights while 10 skaters had a positive +/- rating. Jakub Dobeš saved 27 of 28 shots in net.
“From start to finish, it was our best game of the season,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said.
The Canadiens’ power play cashed in twice against the Oilers and have been a force all year while up a man, sitting fourth best in the NHL at 26.4%. It must be nice to have that luxury as the Flyers’ power play ranks 25th and has capitalized just five times over their last 41 attempts.
Obviously, the goal for the Flyers will be limiting the penalties, a challenge as Philadelphia is top 10 regarding time spent in the penalty box. If the Flyers don’t discipline themselves, Dan Vladař could be pestered with quality chances once again similar to the Flyers taken four penalties when the two teams first met. Vladař’s been the backbone for the Flyers keeping them in as many games as possible. He stopped 30 of 32 shots Sunday night and has a 5-1-2 record over his eight previous starts.
Philadelphia’s Injury Report:
- Tyson Foerster (upper-body)
If the Flyers injury report looks different, it’s because Rasmus Ristolainen will suit up for his first game since March 11, 2025. Ristolainen missed 47 games after getting surgery on a ruptured right triceps tendon. He’ll be paired with Nick Seeler as Noah Juulsen comes out of the lineup.
Montréal’s Injury Report:
- Kirby Dach (foot)
- Alex Newhook (ankle)
- Patrik Laine (abdomen)
- Mike Matheson (undisclosed)
- Kaiden Guhle (lower-body)
Philadelphia’s Player to Watch: Trevor Zegras
Zegras is currently on a three-game scoring streak, and he continues to increase his lead amongst his teammates in every offensive category. Zegras has 11 points over his last nine outings and has already matched his point total from last season in 25 fewer showings. He’s on pace to become the first Flyers player to average over a point per game since Travis Konecny (61 in 60 games in 2022-23) and first player to do so over a full 82 games since Claude Giroux (85 in 2018-19).
“He wants the puck, and he wants to make plays. That’s what we want from him and that’s what he’s been doing all year,” Rick Tocchet said. “When he gets the puck, he’s making plays through the middle of the ice which is nice.”
Montréal’s Player to Watch: Lane Hutson
The 2025 Calder Trophy winner is putting together a stellar sophomore season. Hutson’s 28 points is tied fifth amongst defenseman with six of them coming in the Canadiens’ previous three contests. Hutson is already one of the best powerplay quarterbacks in the league at just 21 years old, further explaining why the Flyers can’t take any unnecessary penalties.
Philadelphia Projected Lineup:
#46 Trevor Zegras – #22 Christian Dvorak – #11 Travis Konecny
#91 Carl Grundström – #14 Sean Couturier – #74 Owen Tippett
#39 Matvei Michkov – #27 Noah Cates – #10 Bobby Brink
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #18 Rodrigo Ābols – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#36 Emil Andrae – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#24 Nick Seeler – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#80 Dan Vladař
(#33 Sam Ersson)
Montréal Projected Lineup:
#13 Cole Caufield – #14 Nick Suzuki – #76 Zack Bolduc
#20 Juraj Slafkovský – #91 Oliver Kapanen – #93 Ivan Demidov
#17 Josh Anderson – #71 Jake Evans – #85 Alexandre Texier
#62 Owen Beck – #90 Joe Veleno – #11 Brendan Gallagher
#48 Lane Hutson– #53 Noah Dobson
#72 Arber Xhekaj – #45 Alexandre Carrier
#47 Jayden Struble – #42 Adam Engström
#32 Jacob Fowler
(#75 Jakub Dobeš)
